The subject of this innovation is a batching machine for dyes or liquid pigments.
Similar machines are known, for example, as a result of patents filed by the same applicant.
These machines basically comprise a number of tanks, each equipped with systems designed to mix the dye and systems designed to measure the amount of dye dispensed, which feed a dispensing head.
According to a preferred form of construction of this type of machine, the tanks, which are wedge-shaped, are arranged radially around the dispensing head and connected to it with Victaulic couplings.
In accordance with this technique, an electric motor (designed to control the dispensing and mixing devices associated with each tank by means of a suitable linkage) is fitted above the dispensing head and within the roughly cylindrical volume delineated by the tank assembly.
The said linkage comprises, for example, a recirculating-ball shaft that drives a plate to which rods which control the said dispensing and mixing devices are fixed.
The motor is positioned above the dispensing head by securing the motor flange to a number of vertical columns, usually three, arranged radially around and close to the dispensing head.
However, this technique presents a number of drawbacks. In view of the fact that these machines must enable dyes of numerous different shades to be produced, a relatively large number of tanks is required.
The presence of the rotor support columns is obviously a nuisance because it reduces the number of tanks that can be used with a given dispensing head diameter; this means that dispensing heads with a larger diameter than theoretically necessary have to be employed, which involves higher production costs and larger dimensions.